Daily Current Affairs 17th January, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 17 January 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Goa to host Fit India Cyclothon to promote fitness on Jan 18
To promote the Fit India Movement, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in collaboration with Government of Goa is all set to host a multi-city Fit India Cyclothon on January 18.

• “Fit India” is a nation-wide movement to encourage people to stay healthy and fit by including physical activities and sports in their daily lives.

Speaker Om Birla inaugurated 7th Conference of CPA India region in Lucknow
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla inaugurated the 7th conference of the CPA India Region in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in Lucknow.

• The three-day conference would discuss the reforms in the legislative businesses of the Assemblies for which Birla reached the state capital where he was welcomed by Speaker of Uttar Pradesh Assembly Hriday Narayan Dixit

First edition of Krishi Manthan held in Ahmedabad
The first edition of Krishi Manthan- the largest Food, Agri-business and Rural Development Summit of Asia organized by Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad held at Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

• More than 1,500 delegates including students and academicians are participating in the two-day event organized by the Food and Agribusiness Committee of IIMA.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Pakistan ranked among worst countries for internet freedom
Pakistan has been ranked one of the worst countries in the world for internet freedom, owing to the restrictions on social media and political reporting, among other factors considered in a survey undertaken by Tech Research company Comparitech.

• North Korea scored 10 in the study, China 9, while Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran scored 8. Pakistan scored 7 out of 10 on the censorship scale (with 10 being the worst), putting the country on par with Belarus, Turkey, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Eritrea.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

ADB sells dual-tranche $2.25 billion 3-year and $2 billion 10-year global benchmark bonds
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has returned to the US dollar bond market with the pricing of a three-year global benchmark bond worth 2.25 billion dollars and a 10-year global benchmark bond worth two billion dollars, proceeds of which will be part of ADB’s ordinary capital resources.ADB plans to raise about 25 billion dollars from the capital markets in 2020.

• The transaction was lead-managed by Barclays, JP Morgan, Nomura and RBC Capital Markets

SPORTS

SAI set up internal complaint committee to curb sexual harassment
Sports Authority of India (SAI) has set up an internal complaint committee to ensure the safety of sportspersons, especially the girls, to prevent them from sexual harassment or any exploitation.

• As per the act prevailing on prevention of sexual harassment, internal complaint committee is constituted at every region with a senior lady as chairperson and representative of NGO in the committee with the majority of committee members as ladies.

Mohun Bagan announces merger with ATK
I-League club Mohun Bagan announced the merger with Indian Super League (ISL) club ATK .

• The merged club will have brand names of ATK and Mohun Bagan. RPSG Group, which owns ATK, will become 80 % majority shareholder alongside Mohun Bagan Football Club (India) Private Limited owning the remaining 20 % shares.

ICC Awards: Virat Kohli named captain of ODI and Test teams of the year
The annual ICC awards were declared with Ben Stokes winning the highest prize in the form of Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for world player of the year. While Pat Cummins and Rohit Sharma also walked away with top prizes in Test and ODI categories respectively, Indian captain Virat Kohli was bestowed with triple honours.
Full List of awards:
Ben Stokes: World player of the year
Pat Cummins: 2019 Test Cricketer of the Year
Rohit Sharma: 2019 ODI Cricketer of the Year
Virat Kohli: 2019 Spirit of Cricket Award
Marnus Labuschagne: 2019 ICC Men’s Emerging Cricketer
Deepak Chahar: 2019 T20I Performer of the Year (6/7 against Bangladesh)
Kyle Coetzer: 2019 Associate Cricketer of the Year
Richard Illingworth: 2019 Umpire of the Year
ICC ODI Team of the Year 2019: Rohit Sharma, Shai Hope, Virat Kohli (c), Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav
ICC Test Team of the Year 2019: Mayank Agarwal, Tom Latham, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli (c), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, BJ Watling (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Nathan Lyon

APPOINTMENTS

Russian Duma approves Putin pick, Mikhail Mishustin, as new Prime Minister
Russian lawmakers overwhelmingly approved Mikhail V. Mishustin as the new Prime Minister, elevating a little-known technocrat picked by President Vladimir V. Putin as part of an unexpected Kremlin shake-up.

• Mishustin, a former head of the Federal Tax Service, received 383 votes of 424 cast in the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, with 41 abstentions coming from the Communist Party. The chamber, dominated by the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, is seen as having only a rubber-stamp role.

AWARDS

Kerala announces sports awards, Muhammad Anas wins GV Raja award
Kerala Sports Minister EP Jayarajan announced the sports awards instituted by Kerala State Sports Council with Indian sprinter Muhammad Anas winning GV Raja award (Male) for athletics.

• In the female category, PC Thulasi was adjudged the winner for GV Raja award which carries prize money of Rs 3 lakh and a citation. TP Ouseph, athletics coach will be conferred with Olympian Suresh Babu lifetime achievement award which carries a prize of Rs 2 lakh and a citation.The award for the best sports trainer was clinched by football coach Satheevan Balan of the Kerala State Sports council.

Sunder Advani wins ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at SATTE 2020
Sunder G Advani, Chairman and Managing Director, Advani Hotels and Resorts (India) Ltd. was felicitated with a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the South Asia Travel and Tourism Exhibition (SATTE) Awards, 2020.

• The 27th edition of South Asia’s largest travel and tourism exhibition, SATTE washeld from January 08 to January 10, 2020, at the India Exposition Mart Ltd., Greater Noida.

Sindhi writer Vasdev Mohi to be conferred with 29th Saraswati Samman 2019
Eminent Sindhi writer Vasdev Mohi will be conferred with 29^th Saraswati Samman for his short stories collection- Chequebook. This short stories  collection talks about the agonies and sufferings of marginalized sections of the society.Saraswati Samman carries a cash award of 15 lakh rupees, a citation and a plaque

Indian scientist Sakya Singha Sen awarded “Merck Young Scientist Award 2019
Indian researchers Sakya Singha Sen have received first Merck Young Scientist Award 2019 in Chemical Sciences recently at Bangalore instituted by Merck, a science and technology company operating worldwide.

• Dr Sakya Singha Sen, a senior scientist from National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL), Pune has been awarded for doing remarkable research in chemical science.The winners received cash award of INR 2,00,000 and Travel Award of INR 1,50,000 each.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Rajnath Singh flags off 51st K-9 Vajra-T gun
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flagged off the 51st K-9 Vajra-T gun at the Larsen and Toubro Armoured Systems Complex at Hazira in Surat. Singh also put Tilak and drew a Swastik symbol on the new artillery. He also offered flowers to the gun and broke a coconut.

India’s telecommunication satellite GSAT30 successfully launched from French Guiana
India’s telecommunication satellite, GSAT30 was successfully launched from onboard Ariane-5 flight at the Kourou launch base in French .GSAT-30, India’s first space mission in 2020, was successfully launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) .

• The European rocket Arianespace launched the GSAT-30 satellite for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Eutelsat Konnect satellite for the French telecommunications company Eutelsat

ENVIRONMENT

Arunachal Pradesh signs MoU with IUCN to red List Orchids
In a first, Arunachal Pradesh government has taken steps to create a Red Listing of orchids at the state level. For this purpose, the State government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

• As per the MoU, the State government will collaborate with the IUCN to prepare the IUCN’s Red List Assessment for all orchids in the State.

OBITUARIES

Noted chess administrator Ummer Koya of Kerala passed away
Former Vice-President of the international chess body FIDE and former Secretary of the All India Chess Federation (AICF) P.T. Ummer Koya passed away in Kozhikode in Kerala.He was 69.

IMPORTANT DAYS

72nd Army Day celebrated on January 15
The Indian Army is celebrating the 72nd Army Day. Every year Army Day is celebrated at all Army Command headquarters in order to honour the soldiers of our country who have set the greatest example of selfless service and brotherhood and more than anything the love for the country.

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